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Prepare To Be Watched While You Watch a Movie
BussyB writes "Gaining entry to some movie theaters lately gives patrons an experience that is on par with going through a TSA security checkpoint at the airport. Then once you've gained access, there are cameras strategically positioned that record your every move. Unfortunately, the extent to which these companies monitor movie-goers is only going to get worse."
Only, this time it's "Who watches the watchers?"
My postings are informational and does not constitute legal advice. Act on it at your risk.
In 1995 I had a summer job as an employee of Buena Vista (the company that releases Disney's major animated pictures). My job? Auditing movie theaters by counting the people attending and comparing to the ticket sales, ensuring that during the screening, nobody was taking pictures or using other recording devices (if they were, we had an off duty police officer on site working security).
The buena vista hit squad (as we called ourselves) was nothing new when I joined up.
Fast forward to my weekend job as second shift manager of a movie theater while I was in college (1999) we had 2 "crowd cameras" at every screen, you could see the entire audience the whole time the movie was going, we used it to bust people who decided that the movie theater was an apropriate place to have sex (including some employees after hours *eyeroll*).
My initial thought is that they're recording peoples' responses to product placement / subliminal advertising, in an attempt to gauge the effectiveness thereof.
Did anyone else catch the giant cigarette advertisement in the last James Bond? It was right after he had sex with the blonde, what a hero.
This post was made in complete sincere seriousity; as such any attempts to derive humour are doomed to instant failure.
Marketing surveys suffer from remarkably selective attention; sort of like asking "When did you stop beating your wife?" reveals a certain prejudice.
Instead of noticing that we loathe any and all of the ads, they are going to ask: "Which one did you enjoy the most?"
This assumes that we enjoyed any of the ads.
We don't, but that's not what they're measuring is it...
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Almost, now it's: "In Corporate America, movie watches you" :-) I'm not from the US so I can't tell how bad it is, but one can get the impression that the level of surveillance is even worse than during the cold war... but most surveillance seems not to be done by the government any more but by corporations.
My wife and i started to go to drive-in when my daughter was born and while the quality isn't super duper imax 3D, there's nothing quite like laying on the hood of my car and sipping a beer or laying out on blanket with a radio besides us. Next summer, we're picking up a portable grill to get a little tailgating action going on. Honestly, I see no reason to go back to the traditional theaters. The experience is just too miserable for the money plus, we're guaranteed to see our drive-in movie in 2D which for me is worth the price of admission (I get headaches after awhile, plus the 3D glasses never fit right over my own glasses - chafing the shit out of my nose)
Just a couple of days ago I was watching a movie, and an attendant came in with what must have been a night vision camera and scanned the room with it :/
which is totally what she said
Literally NONE of my friends go to the movies anymore. They all have Netflix accounts and Blu-Ray players and big screens.
Movie theaters will essentially disappear within 10 years. I would say it's their own damn fault, but really, they simply had no chance once home theater technology got good enough and cheap enough.
Not necessarily. I can put up a sign in my shop saying I have the right to punch you in the face, but I'd get arrested if I did it...
Forget the mask - have a baseball cap covered in IR LEDs.
That should mask your face from their cameras
Go to a theater that doesn't suck. I've seen security at an Alamo Drafthouse franchise remove cellphone yappers quite quickly. Then find something decent on the menu and your beverage of choice and kick back. If you have to go use the restroom, there is plenty of space to duck under the table and go down the aisle.
Going to the Alamo is a nice change from the neighborhood watering hole.